Sanctuary equals Safe Right?
by Draco Blue Flame
Summary: Harry Potter is forced to seek sanctuary in Japan, and Severus know of no safer place than with Genkai in her temple home. While there Harry makes some new friends and learns a lot of new skills.
1. Updated Chapter 1

**Updated First chapter Nov 4****th****, 2011**

**Authors notes:** This is my first fanfic ever, please review Thanks. I will try to put up new chapters frequently. –DracoBlueFlame-

**Warning**: Later chapters are likely to be full of Slash and het smut so the fic is rated M

**Disclaimer:** The plot belongs to me, but nothing else.

**Acknowledgements**: I want to recognize my Girlfriend for giving me the original Plot Bunny for this story as well as helping me get the creative juices flowing when I come to a roadblock.

Also I want to recognize:

Bittersweet Dream for beta reading the first couple of chapters, looking over grammar and fixing a few things.

Momonster for helping me rework my story, adding in details, filling plot holes and generally making this chapter a better read. I feel she deserves a title and recognition and if she keeps up the amazing work for a few more chapters I'll be willing to call her a coauthor because she is doing so much.

Chapter 1

Unsweetened Sixteen

Sweet sixteen, what could possibly go wrong? Well, probably nothing as far as Harry knew; he wasn't expecting a party from family or any more presents since he had already received all his presents from everyone who actually cared and what he wanted most was truly impossible by any means.

Not even the magical world had found a way to bring one back from the dead after all.

And that Sirius was lost - bodily and spiritually - to the Veil of Death made any spark of hope die away.

So when he woke up on the thirty-first of July, he had no reason to look forward to it at all. What was there to look forward to when what you wanted most was impossible? Nothing could bring Sirius back; nothing could lessen his guilt over the entire affair.

Sirius would be alive if it wasn't for his recklessness. Nothing he could do would bring him back. And that truth weighed heavily on him.

_'If only.'_ he thought bitterly to himself. _'If only I hadn't fallen for that stupid trap. If only I had known that I was doing exactly what Voldemort wanted me to do, Sirius would still be alive right now. If only_.' Wiping angrily at his face lest a damning tear fell, Harry forcefully turned his thoughts from what ifs and what could-have-been.

Still brooding and depressed over his recent loss, he looked over the presents he had received to hopefully distract himself. From Ron he had gotten his favorite wizard candies, Chocolate Frogs and Fudge Flies; from Hermione, a new Defense Against the Dark Arts book; and what at first glance could only be described as rocks and paperweights from Hagrid, but upon closer inspection he realized they were supposed to be sweet biscuits and breads. All these had shown up around midnight after the Dursleys had turned in, but before he had himself gone to bed as he always wished himself a happy birthday on the stroke of midnight. He ended up sending the owls away once he'd received their burdens without replies for fear of Vernon coming in and striking not only them for the noise they eventually made, but also him for standing in the way.

He looked over at the empty birdcage in the corner of his room and wished Hedwig would return soon. She had been gone for three days now and his anxiousness made it feel as if she had been gone forever; he couldn't help but worry that something might have happened to her. Harry had sent her out with a quick message to Moody saying he was still in good health.

"I really want to send these messages out…especially the one to the order." Harry muttered to himself, glancing at the stack of replies he'd written to his friends. He really needed to get in touch with the Order of the Phoenix; they had made it clear to Vernon that if he didn't check in regularly one of them would show up thinking something was wrong.

Harry's thoughts went back to the memory of Moody staring Vernon and Petunia down in the middle of the train station and couldn't help the slight laugh that escaped him.

It was after sunrise - the sky was just turning back to blue from being bright red and orange as the rising sun lifted higher over the horizon - when a large brown barn owl came screeching into his room through the open window. It was times like these that Harry wished he had air conditioning like the rest of the house, then he wouldn't have to leave his window open at night to cool his room. Harry grabbed the note and untied it from the owl's leg, but before he could even begin to read it, he heard Vernon bellow from down stairs.

"WHAT IS ALL THAT BLEEDING NOISE ABOUT?" Vernon bellowed. Harry tried to shoo the owl out the window, but it wasn't having it, screeching again while clawing at Harry's hand as the teen tried to physically push the bird through the window.

'_It was told to stay and wait for a reply.'_ Harry thought to himself in horror, forgoing politeness as he bodily picked the bird up and flung it out the window, shutting it before the owl could get back inside.

The thumping of Vernon's footsteps had made it to the stairs, Harry could tell he was coming closer and closer with each pained creak of wood, and frantically pulled up the loose floorboard, stuffing the missive inside before sealing it closed once more, despairing to himself over the circumstance he'd once again found himself in.

_'So much for thinking nothing could go wrong if you weren't expecting anything to go right.' _Harry made note to himself dryly, staring forlornly at the door. _'Never count the chicks before they've hatched.'_

"THAT BLOODY WHITE BIRD WAS SINKIN' IN THE THAMES TWO DAYS AGO! IF I GET MY HANDS ON ANOTHER OWL IT WILL MEET A SOGGY END AS WELL!" he continued to bellow at the top of his lungs, his lugging steps finally past the stairs and nearer to his door.

"NOT AGAIN!" the Dursley patriarch screamed manically; loud enough that the neighbors had to hear, for at least three blocks in every direction. "NO MORE BLEEDING OWLS! LET ME GET MY HANDS ON ANOTHER ONE, AND LIKE THAT BLOODY WHITE BIRD IT'LL FIND ITS WAY THERE AS WELL!"

Harry felt time stop.

'…_Hedwig's…no!' _Frozen, Harry could do nothing as the door slammed open, revealing the enraged features of his uncle. _'He's lying!' _the boy thought frantically, pleadingly. _'Hedwig can't be dead, she can't be!'_

"I am sick and tired of dealing with birds coming and going from my house like it was _a damned aviary!_" Vernon snarled, stepping farther into the small room. "If I have to wring that bird's neck to have some peace and quiet in the morning then…I WILL!" he bellowed, shoving Harry out of his way.

Harry fell to the ground numbly as Vernon opened the window allowing the bird hovering at the glass to once again enter the house, screeching angrily as it did so.

Harry felt as if he had been hit by a _Stupefy_; but it didn't quite have enough force to knock him unconscious. Every thought was slow, making his sight swim as Vernon turned his sights towards the owl, crashing through to Harry's room as the barn owl flew through the air around Harry's room; making Vernon try to jump futilely while swatting massive hands through the air nowhere close to the avian. After a few fruitless minutes of running around and swatting at the flying bird, he turned his attention to Harry.

"MAKE THAT BIRD BE _QUIET_!" Vernon screeched, rushing once again toward the owl, but unable to catch it as it flew through the window, but then hovered outside of it; hooting and screeching loudly as it waited for Harry's reply.

Visibly twitching as his prey left his range, Vernon instead turned to one much closer; reaching down to grab onto the front of Harry's much to large shirt, yanking the thin teenager up to his face before backhanding the black haired teen across the face; the sound of flesh on flesh creating a sickening crack as Harry fell back to the ground, his glasses skittering across the hardwood, scattering glass shards everywhere.

"What-" Vernon started, picking up the limp teenager once more. "-does it take to make you _understand_ that I will _not_ have owls coming and going at all hours of the day?" Vernon demanded, punching Harry in the face.

Harry didn't respond; couldn't respond, frozen.

Vernon had really done it. He'd really _killed_ Hedwig, killed his first friend, the first real birthday present that he could remember.

It was bad enough when it was only Sirius who he had lost; but now on his birthday his most constant companion, the only one who had been with him since he found out about the Wizarding world was gone forever. She hadn't even died in battle with an evil force; just in the hands of his uncle because he was tired of the noise of owls.

Letting out a sobbing sigh; Harry completely shut down, unable to work up the strength to fight back.

Or even the will to want to.

Everything went limp; his mind silent, heart aching with every beat as Vernon took out his pent up anger and frustration on the boy, sparing no mind to his health as the larger man punched and kicked everywhere he could reach.

Skin turning black and blue from the abuse, bones cracking from the assault; still Harry remained motionless, only letting out a soft grunt as Vernon's hit threw him into the far wall of his bedroom.

Landing on his abused stomach, Harry slowly began to push him-self upright as Vernon waddled back towards him.

But before he could get even take five steps, a deafening crack echoed through the room as a figure cloaked in black appeared between them, lifting a hand high as Vernon froze in place, stunned.

Tearing eyes wide, Harry fought to focus on pale skin as the stranger snarled out:_** "**__**Conpagis Restis!"**_

'_Latin? He…he's a Wizard!' _Harry thought to himself bewildered as a ray of colored light appeared to hit Harry's Uncle, wrapping the fat man in rope from neck to toe. The teen remained motionless as Vernon's arms and legs forced to his sides, causing the fat man to lose his balance and fall to the ground, hitting his head hard enough that he was knocked out from the blow.

Slowly lowering his hand, the stranger swiftly turned from the unconscious muggle, tilting his head as Harry finally managed to get onto his knees, head feeling thick left his thoughts coming slowly.

He didn't know whether to be relived or frightened that a Wizard managed to apparate through the wards surrounding his home.

"How unfortunate. Seems we both have much to learn about lies and truth?"

That voice was unmistakable. Harry didn't even need to see the man's face as his body tensed up, the teen unconsciously backing into the wall.

"Snape?"

Snape started to walk towards him as the teen fought to understand just _how_ the man got into his bedroom, but remained motionless, staring up blankly at Snape.

"Stop staring like some witless Neanderthal and get up." Snape started with a sneer, crossing long arms. "We don't have much time Potter."

Harry staggered upright, shaking his head.

"The wards surrounding this house are as good as gone, and it won't be long before the Dark Lord finds you unprotected." Snape began, watching with sharp eyes as Harry stumbled over to his threadbare bed. "This house therefore is nothing more than a target. You cannot stay here, lest we merely hand you over to the Death Eaters." Snape stroll over to the teenager as Harry carefully sat on his bed, biting his lip to stop his whimpers of pain.

Harry looked slightly confused, _'Why is it Snape?'_ he thought, _'Why didn't someone else come to save me?'_

"Come along Potter, you aren't safe here. Have you been following the news?" Harry nodded hesitantly in response. "Well then you know that the Death Eaters are prowling and causing havoc throughout the land. Now is not the time to answer questions, we have to get you to somewhere safer." Snape added having seen the doubt and questioning look on Harry's face. Snape then pulled a few small brightly colored potions out from inside his robes.

Snape reached over to Harry, pouring the potions down his throat before the teen could get a word out otherwise. "If you had actually learned anything throughout your five years in my class you would recognize these potions, Mr. Potter." He said witheringly. "The first stops all bleeding and is healing any cuts upon your person as we speak. The second heals broken bones, and this third will heal your bruising once your bleeding ends." Snape described briskly, putting the emptied vials in to the folds of his robes as Harry sputtered; unable to help his coughing as the potions burned their way down his throat. "Now drink this." Snape demanded once Harry finally managed to look at him without watering eyes.

As Harry did so, Snape pulled something else from his robes. "The last potion will - with a separate agent - change you enough that your magical signature will alter; therefore making it substantially more difficult to find you through magical means by use of any of your personal belongings." Snape paused, sneering slightly. "Now the final ingredient."

Before Harry could react or respond, Snape lifted a finger to his mouth; and green eyes watched with wide eyes as the Potions Master nicked his finger upon his own tooth, and unceremoniously stuck said finger into Harry's mouth.

"Suck on it." Blinking numbly Harry did as ordered, sipping down on the faint taste of blood while Snape watched him.

"I'm sending you to a woman for your protection. She will be able to take care of you and teach you what you need to survive on your own. It will not be easy Potter, no one there knows of your fame here, so don't expect any special treatment from her, or anyone else." Snape paused, pulling his finger free from the unresisting teen. "I must admit, she is a might odd…but she will protect you…better than your relatives at least." Snape finished with a sneer, turning an eye to Vernon on the floor. Snape pulled a little black bottle of something out of his robes, looked it over, tapped it with his wand and muttered something that Harry couldn't make out.

"Here." Harry didn't have to think about what he was to do as the black bottle was tossed towards his face, his hand lifting to catch the cool glass despite the pain.

"You are going to go for a bit of a trip. And with all the healing you need to do, the potions might knock you …" Snape paused as the boy vanished, then let himself smile grimly. "-out." he finished dryly, looking down at where the brat once sat.

Standing with a short sigh, Severus Snape turned towards Vernon Dursley, still unconscious and hogtied.

"Now, now, now." The dark man murmured slowly to himself, lips curling into a dark grin. "What to do with you."


	2. Updated Chapter 2

**Updated Second Chapter December 4, 2011**

**Disclaimer:** The plot belongs to me, but nothing else.

Chapter 2

An Unknown World

Lady luck seemed to favor Harry Potter only in certain circumstances.

Defeating evil wizards? Check.

Surviving unexplainable circumstances? Check Check.

…A somewhat graceful, if not _stable_ landing after using magical means of transportation? …not so check.

Knocked unconscious from the influx of magic on his potion induced, bruise ridden, and bleeding body; Harry Potter appeared from the portkey limp as a wet rag.

This wouldn't have been a problem, if the portkey hadn't left him a good seven feet in the air.

Right above the innocent figure of an unsuspecting woman.

With a slight squeal Yukina fell to the ground as something just about as big as her fell on her back; making her lose hold of the bags she had been holding, packaged foods spilling from them as she and the lump hit the ground.

"**What happened?" **she gasped out pulling herself from under the unmoving cold mass and turned towards it, gasping in alarm at the sight of the small, thin, clearly unconscious young man came into her sight. **"What in Makai…?"** Finally free from under his slight frame, Yukina knelt by the boy, running her hands over his body. He was small and pale, thinner than even Hiei, his flesh strung out on fine bones. He looked somewhat like what a normal human should look – save the bright red scar on his forehead, and the odd scent emanating from his body. Blood, sweat, an odd mixture of herbs…and deeper…something…inhuman clung to his scent.

Shaking her head to dispel the useless and unnecessary thoughts, Yukina quickly lifted a hand, pressing it to the boy's chest, letting her healing nature rise.

Slowly the bruises and remaining cuts faded from her power, but the boy remained unconscious. Yukina shook her head slowly, then after a bit of thought, lifted a hand, creating a massive shard of ice. A burst of energy had the ice shard hurtling into the air, vanishing quickly from her sight, as Yukina turned back to the child on the ground.

_How could anyone do this to a child?_ She thought in disgust.

Moments later Genkai appeared from down the stairs, calm though her eyes showed her worry. **"What's the matter Yu-"** the old woman paused, taking in the sight of the boy at Yukina's feet. **"…So he did it, huh?"** She murmured softly, before shaking her head. **"It seems we shall be having a guest for some time Yukina, I'm sure you can adjust to another member of the household?"**

"**Oh that's no problem at all, Master Genkai."** Yukina answered quickly, standing tall as Genkai used her spirit energy to lift the limp guest into the air. **"Were you expecting anyone?"**

"**I knew the chance of sheltering someone was high, but not that he would be coming so soon, no."** Genkai explained, and with both hands behind her back, started to walk back up to her shrine.

Yukina blinked for a moment, and then hastily grabbed her groceries, following after the spry woman.

As Yukina made it to the top of the stairs and past Genkai's wards, she watched Genkai levitate their guest into the shrine, following her as Genkai placed the boy in one of her guest rooms.

"**Yukina,"** Genkai called out, getting a hasty reply from the ice maiden. **"You did well healing him, but we can't leave him in these blood covered clothes." **

"**Then what can we do, Master Genkai?" **Yukina lifted a hand to her lip.

"**Clean him off."** Yukina blinked, and then her face lit a fire at Genkai's lifted eyebrow. **"You are a healer, just wrap up any remaining injuries and clean the blood off of him."**

Yukina swallowed. "**What shall we dress him in until he has clothes of his own?"**

Genkai smirked. **"Well. The clothes the dimwit left here are much too big, though we can put the boy in one of his shirts for now…but I think with a little work your clothing can fit him."**

Yukina's flush darkened. _**"My clothes?"**_She squeaked.

"**Just until he awakens and you can take him clothes shopping."** Genkai waved a hand. **"You should clean him up quickly before he gets a chill."**

Staring down at her new charge, Genkai watched idly as Yukina gently washed the blood from his pale skin. When the oversized blood stained clothing was removed from his frame it revealed the too thin limbs; the women easily able to count each rib. Yukina could detect no healing needed on his internal organs, but Genkai knew the strength of a wizard's potion, and wondered just what the extent of his injuries actually were that Yukina felt to heal anything in the first place.

_Obviously abused and suffering from severe malnutrition._ Genkai thought to herself. _I have my work cut out for me in training this one. I have to fix him physically before I can beat him down after all. Didn't even have to put this much effort into the dimwit, and he's my successor…oh well. I gave my word._

"**Before I could heal him, many of his injuries were already healing extremely fast, Master Genkai."** Yukina started suddenly, making the old woman look up to her red eyes. **"Though he smells almost like he has some demon blood in him I don't think he would be healing that fast."**

"**The man who sent him here must have given him some concoctions to fix him up a bit." **Genkai answered absentmindedly. **"Pay it no mind. Just watch after whatever hasn't healed."**

Yukina nodded, letting her eyes roam her patient.

Genkai watched her eye him a bit longer than necessary and snorted once, making Yukina look up briefly then flush. **"I'll…just go find one of Yusuke's shirts then!"** she squeaked, racing out of the room while Genkai chuckled.

Amusement fleeing her, Genkai turned back to the boy unconscious before her. **"I really have got my work cut out for me with this one. Need to get some proper food into him before I can even start anything…and make sure everything his healed properly before the true training can begin."** She narrowed her eyes. **"In this state…even if he had come here injury free…I doubt he could have even made it up my stairs."**

Yukina shook her head, standing from her kneeling position at the boy's side. She had him in one of Yusuke's shirts, the cloth covering him modestly enough.

"**Well. We'll have to make due for the moment."** Genkai sighed. **"Just pull out one of the futons and get him in it so he doesn't wake up cramped."** Yukina nodded, removing the bowl of water she'd used to clean the boy up before obediently pulling out the bedding, slipping the light boy into its covers.

"**Good work."** Yukina smiled at Genkai's praise. "**Now…I guess all we can do is wait."**

It would be three days before Harry started to stir from the potion, shock, and trauma induced coma. Diligently during his unconsciousness Yukina fed him daily, taking care to clean him and changing him into one her kimono's. Genkai in turn had her home stocked with food appropriate for his malnutrition and to help him gain muscle during his training.

On the morning of the fourth day in Genkai's home Harry opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Blinking slowly, Harry let the heavily lethargy in his bones keep him in place while he sluggishly tried to think. His entire body felt heavy, and his mind didn't want to get into gear; but he slowly managed to sit up, letting his head rest in his hand as he tried to remember exactly what had happened last.

The sight of Vernon over him with a fist raised sent a shudder up his spine, jerking him upright with wide eyes.

Vernon beating him.

Snape appearing in his bedroom, stopping his mad Uncle.

The Potion's Master shoving potions down his throat while lecturing him even then.

The man pricking his finger upon his own tooth, and then shoving the bleeding digit into Harry's mouth, and then everything after was a blur of color and slowly settling shock.

Idly noting that he could move without even a twinge of pain, Harry looked down upon himself, and did a double take putting a hand back up to his face to make sure his glasses hadn't made their way back to his face without him realizing. The reason for this dubious reaction was that his vision was crystal clear, giving him lucid sight of a very fine green silk robe tightly wrapped about his frame.

Something he didn't remember being in before Snape showed up.

Harry was in awed shock. Somehow his vision was great, even without corrective lenses, something he had been used to since he was a small child. Before now, without his glasses he couldn't really make out his fingernails with his hand stretched out in front of his face.

During the time he'd been taking in the fact that someone had undressed him; the door to the room opened, revealing a blue haired woman with kind red eyes.

Instantly he flushed confused; while she looked surprised and…_embarrassed?_

**"Ohayougozaimasu!"** (_Good morning!_) She greeted him and bowed.

Harry blinked.

_Great. Where exactly am I?_ He wondered to himself, tilting his head as the woman stood tall again. She wore a wrap much like the one upon his own body, colored a light blue with a friendly smile on her face.

He could somehow tell she meant him no harm at all.

"Hello. Um, where am I?" Harry asked hesitantly while rolling the bedding off of his legs. The woman's expression changed to one of confusion as well. "Great we don't speak the same language, do we." He groaned out, finally standing on wobbly legs.

Blinking at him now, the woman spun about, leaving the room. **"Genkai-san! Anata wa doko ni iru?"** (_Master Genkai! Where are you?_)

Harry watched her leave and bit his lip, slowly making his way towards the door while picking at the robe he wore. It was uncomfortably tight…he really couldn't move very fast in it at all.

Before he could actually leave the room the woman came back, accompanied by an older lady with faded pink hair, who barely came up to his waist.

"Well well. Look who's finally up." The woman said without any preamble - and an obvious accent, one he didn't recognize - both hands behind her back as she eyed Harry up and down.

Harry frowned. "Well at least you know English. It would really suck if I couldn't understand _anyone_ here." The woman snorted. "Can you please tell me where I am? And who are you, ma'am?"

"The idiot didn't even tell you who I am before sending you here?" The woman snorted. "Typical."

The blue haired woman tilted her head, looking at the other. **"Genkai-san, nani ga mondai nanodeshouka?"** _(Master Genkai, what's wrong?)_

"**Otokonoko demo, kare gakokoni kite ita shiri masendeshita."** _(The boy didn't even know he was coming here.)_ The older woman replied before turning back to Harry as the blue haired woman's eyes widened. "I am Master Genkai, owner of this Shrine. You are currently in Japan. I was told you would need shelter here, but don't expect it to be free." Harry blinked slowly. "If I remember that idiot's name correctly…it's Snape, right?" Harry nodded dumbly. "Well he's informed me of your predicament Harry Potter and we had come to an agreement. I will keep you here and out of the eye of the war and train you; on the condition you do your share of chores in the house and around my land. Agreed?"

Harry blinked, mouth opening and closing from the influx of information. "Um. Agreed...?" Genkai nodded. "But, uh, _training_?"

The woman locked sharp eyes onto Harry's face. "You may not know it yourself, but you do have a strong spiritual awareness, and I can sense power within you. If I'm going to keep you here, why not teach you what could help you survive that foolish war in England?" Harry sputtered a bit. "Pay it no mind. For now all I really can do is get some meat on your bones, brat." She turned back to the blue haired woman.

"**Yukina, remember the recipes I showed you recently? **Yukina nodded.** "Get some of them started for dinner if you would?"**

"**Yes Master Genkai."** The woman turned to Harry with a smile and bowed once before leaving the room.

"That is Yukina; she is also a guest within my home and does many of the household chores, chores you'll be sharing once you're physically up to it." Genkai stated. "Unfortunately she doesn't know any English, as she never needed to before now."

Harry nodded, and then slowly slid back to the floor as his knees gave out.

"I'm in Japan." He whispered, cradling his head in his hands.

Genkai snorted. "You may stay in here and rest for now. Yukina should come and get you once dinner's done." Harry nodded absentmindedly and Genkai left.

It took a few long moments before Harry could gather enough awareness to string together coherient thought, but even then only one phrase echoed in his mind.

"…Now what I am going to do?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: **Thanks for all the great response I have gotten so far keep it coming. I will try to keep the chapters coming one every 2-3 weeks keep checking back, the next one might be sooner than that.

Chapter 3

The First Chore

'"_Take it easy" Master Genkai said, "but I want you to learn the lay of the land. You will have chores tomorrow and I want you to know where to go when I tell you to do something."' _Harry remembered being told during lunch earlier._ 'Yeah, right and how exactly am I supposed to "take it easy" when I have to go up and down several hundred stairs just to reach the path that would lead toward a road that would lead to the nearest town.'_

He walked the grounds and had a lot of time to think of. His thoughts started with his current surroundings and how different everything was from London. Even the countryside in between home and Hogwarts was nothing like what he saw when he looked out over the land surrounding the estate. Forests and mountainous terrain as far as the eye could see, never had he seen anything like it. Jagged slopes covered in trees in all directions, but the salty smell of the ocean was strong in the air, so he must be still be close to the sea.

'_Hedwig would have loved the forest."_ Harry's eyes watered up at the thought of his beloved owl. _'Why did it have to take all that for someone to decide to move him somewhere safer?'_ Harry could still hardly believe it was Snape that responded to his silent calls for help. He brought his thoughts back to his current environment as he had been walking down the stairs for a long time but he looked and it looked like he wasn't more than half way down.

Harry decided that he didn't need to go all the way down the stairs and back since he already knew what was at the bottom. When he reached the top again He was surprised to see master Genkai near the stairs just sitting on a bench as though she was waiting for him.

"Well you are back faster than expected. Perhaps I underestimated your physical aptitude; I guess that just means I will have to make things more difficult in the training regimen I had planned for you." Genkai said with a small smile on her face.

Harry just sputtered, but couldn't get the words to form to tell her that he had only gone halfway down and then turned around.

"Continue exploring the grounds I will be waiting for you in the kitchen when you finish, because it turns out I do have a small chore for you to do today. Yukina had to go in to town again for necessities, but I need you to pick some healing plants for some bruise balm. The forest has a type of herb that I just can't grow in my garden for some reason. With Severus as a teacher you should be able to tell herbs apart from weeds right?"

Harry nodded "I also had some herbology classes so I know a little more than that about plants with medicinal purposes. I will see you in the kitchen in a little bit then."

"Get moving you have to be in and out of the forest before dark." Genkai stated.

Harry took off at a trot to see the rest of the grounds.

When he returned to the kitchen to see what the plant looked like. What he saw was the branch of a bush with berries on it.

"It is known as Elaeagnus umbellata and one of its common names is Japanese Silverberry. Now I said it was an herb and I meant that in the most general way. It is a shrub that can grow up to be a tree 7 meters tall. The part that is of the plant that has the most value to me for balm making is the roots. I have tried many times to propagate it, but cuttings just won't take root and only one in a couple thousand seeds even germinates let alone grows to maturity for me."

Harry scrunched up his face in thought for a second trying to remember what he knew about a plant looked like this. "I think I have seen this plant before, but I knew it as Autumn Olive. If it is then at this time of year the fruits aren't quite ripe, but it will have a lot of berries on it."

Genkai is slightly surprised at his apparent knowledge about the plant. "That is another name I have heard it called by some. I need you back for dinner so you have got 2 hours to collect a load of the roots and return. Here are two buckets" She said as she hands him the buckets, "I want them full of thick juicy roots when you come back. Take a shovel from the shed and go to the forest and there should be a thicket of the bushes near the first clearing." On the table there were a pair of brown pants and a shirt to match that were all a size or three too long for him. Harry looked at them and knowingly Genkai said, "Go change in to them so you don't ruin that kimono in the forest."

She points out the window at the forest directly behind the house, then up slightly to a spot that looked like it was a hole in the canopy of the forest. "The plants are about half a kilometer away from here, in that general area. From here to there the woods are fairly safe, but I have a small warding amulet for you just in case." She takes off a necklace with a small pendant covered in kanji and puts it around Harry's neck. "That should keep you safe from the most of the less than human occupants of the woods."

"Thank you Master Genkai I'll have those roots for you when I return." Harry said as he turned to leave. '_I wish I had my wand, then I could lift the plant right out of the ground chop off some roots and then replace the plant after helping it to grow its roots back. Instead I have to dig and chop and remove the roots with brute force damaging the plant and hoping it will be ok.'_

He quickly went back to his room and changed into the clothing he was more accustom to. He folded the kimono on the foot of his bedroll then was off like a flash to get to work. He jogged across the yard with the buckets in one hand and the shovel across his shoulder. He slowed once he was making his way into the woods, the shovel made a good walking stick.

The forest felt weird, it was kind of like The Dark Forest around Hogwarts, but still very different. For one thing the couple of critters he had felt were giving him plenty of space and the general magic feeling around it was just not the same. It got very dark in the woods quickly, so when Harry saw a spot where light was shining in, just a couple of minutes into woods, he was both happy to have quickly found it and apprehensive that he had been able to get to the destination without any major trouble.

'_That was far too easy to reach,' _Harry thought as made his way over to the first of the plants. He could kind of make out where the roots had been dug from some of the shrubs before, so he went over to another plant to take roots from the untouched plants. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something menacing lurking just outside his field of vision.

The digging took a lot out of him and after he had the first bucket full of roots he took a short break to cool off in the tiny stream he heard burbling nearby. The feeling of being watched got stronger as he left the sunny glade. "Whatever you are I mean you no harm." He called out to the gloom that now surrounded him. As soon as the words had left his mouth he realized that was a stupid thing to do, because the feeling of being watched was now accompanied by the sounds of many creatures closing in on his location.

He got to the stream and rinsed off his hands and splashed water on his face. He had planned on relaxing for a little longer, but now just didn't feel like the right time to be relaxing. Harry headed back up to the glade and picked up where he left off digging up roots. '_One more bucket of roots and then I have to head back out of the sunlight to face whatever may be out there.'_ The dread of not knowing what lurked in the woods filled his thoughts.

Suddenly the atmosphere of the woods shifted radically, as though the creatures that lurked near Harry were scared off by something more fearsome. Harry quickly finished refilling the soil around the plants and was starting to leave the clearing when a person with brilliantly red hair strode the through the thicket as though he hardly noticed it at all.

"How can you just walk right through there?" Harry was amazed by the ease of his passage through the woody plants especially since some of the branches have spines on the tips so getting too close to them could be quite painful.

"I just can." The stranger replied. "So you were digging roots I see, did Master Genkai put you up to it?"

Harry nodded.

"She was testing you and I probably ruined it. When you get back don't tell her you saw anyone out here. I'll be at dinner, make sure to act like you have never seen me before so she doesn't get too suspicious of foul play during her silly little test which might have killed you." He paused for moment to think of else to say. "When she asks how it went tell her everything up to the point where the demons were scared off and then just be elusive, mysterious or vague saying how it was touch and go for a bit but you made it back with just a couple of scrapes."

"Demons? Is that what the creatures were?" Harry asked.

"Oops I said too much already don't call them demons she will ask more questions you aren't able to answer truthfully, if at all." He hurried away but called back "See you at dinner Harry Potter." With that he disappeared into the darkening woods from which he came.

Harry thought _'Who in the world was that and how did he know who I was? I guess I'll just have to wait and find out at dinner.'_ He ran back after messing up his hair and making a small tear in the arm of the shirt. Along with a scratch on the skin beneath to add to his story of running thinking that there were some ravenous creatures on his heel for the first part of the journey back.

When he reached the Master Genkai's home he was met just outside the kitchen. He was out of breath sweating and looked to be quite a mess.

Genkai looked at him and saw that he managed to bring her two full buckets of the roots like she had asked of him. "You're late." She said kind of crossly.

"I wasn't expecting to be chased by anything when I signed up to collect the roots for you." He said while still catching his breath from the run.

"You were chased through the forest by something?" Questioned Genkai.

"Yes I got to the clearing where the plants were and started digging when I started to feel like I was being watched by something. Then when I went to cool down in the stream nearby I heard things moving around but I never saw anything. I went back and filled the other bucket and I was feeling like I was being sized up as a snack by Fluffy, the giant three headed dog. So I grabbed the stuff and headed out at a run and for the first half of the way I could have sworn there were a dozen things of various sizes right on my heels. As I neared the edge of the forest they stopped chasing me, but I wasn't about to take any chances so I ran the rest of the way back here." Harry said making sure to look her in the eyes as he told her what had 'happened'.

"I see, well I doubt they could have actually come any closer to you than they did because of the wards on that pendant I gave you. So you were never in any real danger." Genkai replied.

"Yeah well it felt like I was and I have been in danger and left running for my life quite a few times." Harry was finally catching his breath.

"You are fine. Go clean up and change for dinner. Yukina has probably left you something to change into in your room. Dinner will be ready soon." Genkai dismissed him.

Genkai watched as Harry walked off to his room then went in to the kitchen to see how dinner was coming along.

Yukina greeted her **"Good evening Master Genkai. Is Potter, Harry alright?"**

"**Yes he is fine, better than I expected actually. He is going to clean and change for dinner. Did you leave out another kimono for him by chance?"** Genkai said with a bit of a smirk.

"**Of course I did. I wanted him to look his best, especially when we are expecting company."** The expression on her face was one of exasperation as though she was saying do you think I would dress him in anything else?

"**You're expecting company? Who is coming to dinner this time?"** Genkai stated in surprise.

"**Kurama. I saw him when I was getting groceries and told him we had a guest staying with us and he said he wanted to meet Potter-san."** Yukina, said pleased that there would be someone else to talk to at dinner.

"**I see. Well finish up we don't want the boys to wait while I'm keeping you from cooking."** Genkai said as she left the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note

Sorry everyone for the lateness of this chapter Work and moving got in the way of completing this on the time schedule that I was hoping for. It might still be a little rough around the edges because it hasn't been fully beta read yet, but I couldn't wait any longer to see what people thought of where the story is heading. Please review and let me know if there is anything blaringly wrong with it still and I will update with a fully corrected version soon.

I still own nothing.

Chapter Four

**Green Eyed Guest**

Harry was the last to appear at dinner. He saw the red haired man from earlier sitting with Master Genkai and Yukina. Even though all three people were deep in conversation they stopped talking as one the moment they saw Harry enter the room. Their expressions all changed instantly, both Genkai and Kurama had nearly matching mirth filled grins on their faces, whereas Yukina was just one of near disgust.

"What?" Was all Harry managed to get out before Yukina launched herself at him and began undoing his kimono. She made Harry blush bright red, because she flashed the others in the process of undoing and redoing his green kimono.

Harry could hear her muttering under her breath in Japanese, and the others talking to her in Japanese.

"**Don't blame him for not putting it on right you put on the last 4 when he was still asleep." **Genkai scolded her.

"**It's not like he was a little girl being taught how to put on her kimonos from a very young age." **Kurama chimed in.

"**There all better. Doesn't he look great in kimonos?"** Yukina asked Kurama as she finished retying it.

"**Yes he does certainly does have the right figure for them doesn't he."**

"Will someone tell her I'm not a dress up doll? Will someone also please give me a straight answer? Am I dressed in women's clothing?" Still bright red Harry is quite upset being the centerpiece of dinner entertainment in that fashion. "And who the hell are you?" he said looking at the red haired man

"I am Kurama. And to answer your other questions, I think you look better in that Kimono than Yukina does." Kurama said to Harry trying hard not to laugh still. "My figure could never pull it off."

"We honestly don't have any male clothing that is your size." Genkai said with a very amused look on her face.

"That's all fine and dandy something that is too big can be altered to fit me or if not, I'm used to wearing clothing that is too big for me." Harry said in a stressed tone of voice. "Or better yet, do you have a way to get a hold of Professor Snape? He could bring me some of my stuff. Then I wouldn't have to wear Yukina's clothing anymore, because I would have my own. Anything, besides going naked, would be better than wearing women's clothing."

Kurama breaks out in a very sly grin, "You really want to wear something else? I might have something that would fit you if you are sure anything else would be better than woman's clothing."

Harry without hesitation or thought said "Yes, anything! Can I go change into it now?"

"So long as you promise to wear it, you would hurt my feelings if you don't follow through."

"That's fine. Just get me out of this kimono."

Kurama stands up and walks over to him to guide him to where he has the clothing.

Harry had gotten used to being of average height in comparison to the people he had been around lately, but when he saw Kurama's tall stature he sighed and slumped a bit in defeat. "I thought people in Japan were all supposed to be short, Master Genkai sure is."

As soon as those words left his mouth there was tea cup flying at Harry's head and without having to think Harry plucks it from the air before it is anywhere near hitting him. "I meant no disrespect Master Genkai." He said meekly letting his head droop as he waited for more punishment.

Yukina said to Kurama, "**I would have never thought that he could catch that for how fast Genkai san flung it at him."**

"**Yes it was most surprising, there is more to this boy than meets the eye," **

After a few moments

Genkai mumble under her breath **"More like there's more to his green eyes then we realized."**

'_Oh really, green eyes' _thought Kurama.

Kurama reaches for Harry's chin, but Harry quickly flinches away. Kurama then says "Harry, look at me."

Harry still expecting punishment of some form is slow to respond, but finally looks him in the eyes. At that moment Harry starts when he realizes that Kurama eyes are a near reflection of his own. Harry gazes in wonder as he's never seen anyone with eyes that were quite the same vibrant green as his own.

Kurama suddenly catches Harry's chin even though he flinches again and moves in closer to investigate the nuances of Harry's face and eyes. What intrigues him more than his emerald green eyes is that there was an appealing scent to the boy that makes his own eyes contract to cat like slits and his nostrils flare. It is obviously a part of his scent and not a part of something on him. He lets Harry go.

Harry saw the change in his expression. "What? Do I stink or something?"

"No it's not that, I just… You smell quite good actually. Now I have some clothing for you let's go."

Harry isn't so sure now that he really wants this man to be helping him try on clothing even if it meant not wearing women's clothes anymore.

Reluctantly Harry remembered what he said and not being one to go back on his word he followed Kurama back to another room.

Kurama reaches in to the closet and pull out a pink and purple outfit that could only be described by Harry as a dress that had been slit up the sides and synched around the middle by thick ribbon like band of fabric. Harry looks at the rest of the clothing in the closet and sees that a large majority of it is made of purple, red and pink.

Harry asked "Why do you wear so much pink?"

"Because it goes well with my hair and I just like the color." Kurama answered plainly. "Do you need any help changing because I don't mind helping you if you need any?"

"Umm… No thanks I think I got it I'll be down in a few." Harry said after considering the clothes he was handed

"Well hurry I'm sure the food isn't going to stay warm much longer." Kurama called out to Harry as he hurried down the hall.

Leaving Harry to fend for himself Kurama went to let Master Genkai know the tidbit he had learned.

"**Master Genkai had you realized that Potter-kun has a demon taint as well as protection about him? I got a good whiff of it when I looked at his gorgeous green eyes." **Kurama said

"**I thought I smelled something like that when I first brought him in, but I wasn't sure and forgot to say anything." **Yukina spoke up.

"**I wondered if that was the case, but I hadn't looked into it since I haven't had much opportunity to do any deep scans of his spirit yet." **Genkai muttered. **"I'll look into that after dinner."**

Harry walks back into the room tugging at the clothes in hopes that it will continue to cover everything properly.

Yukina asks, **"Don't you usually wear pants with that type of top?"**

Kurama answers **"Yes, but on him my pants would just look even more comical because they would be 15 centimeters too long and I don't want my pants to be rolled up."**

"**Did you at least give him some underwear, because as you might have seen earlier he hasn't been wearing any?"**

"**Umm…" **A sweat drop forms on the side of his face. **"No. I guess I wasn't thinking about that."**

Genkai "Perhaps he should have some clothes of his own, also some necessities."

Forgetting his lack of under garments for a moment Harry jumps in the air in excitement over the prospect of having some real clothes of his own choosing. "Thank you!" He quickly realized that in the process he had flashed everyone again. He turned a bright shade of red and ran back out of the room trying to hold the flaps in place.

Kurama smirks, **"Well that was entertaining."**

**"I wonder if he needs my help changing again" **Yukina says

Genkai's eye twitches. '_I need to make plans to let Kurama or one of the other boys take his measurements and then shop for him as he cannot leave the protection of the wards. Yukina would not be allowed to shop for him, because he still wouldn't have any male clothing when she got back with many overflowing bags.'_

"**Harry should be a lot bigger for being 16 years old"** Genkai said **"Yukina go get Harry to come back out here he needs to eat. Then I will test his spirit because I think something is very wrong."**

Yukina takes off to go find Harry

"**What, he's 16? I thought he was 10 or 11, he is so small, stunted even!" **Kurama exclaimed.

"**My point exactly he's still stunted there." **Genkai states giving Kurama a meaningful look at his crotch.

Kurama blushes slightly and crossed his legs. _'Master Genkai sure doesn't miss much. The poor boy I wonder if he has ever tried to be with anyone. I doubt it if his hormones haven't even hit, yet!'_

Yukina drags Harry back into the room fully clothed in the green kimono he had originally come to dinner in. She sat him down in the open seat and pointed at the plate which was still full of food waiting for him to eat it.

Harry stares at his food and then looks for a fork only to find a pair of wooden hair ornaments in their place. "My hair isn't long enough to need being put up with sticks. What am I supposed to do with these?" he asked

Kurama snickers. "Those are chopstick and if you had been out here while we were still eating you would have seen us using them to pick up the food with. Here let me show you how to use them." Kurama picks up his set of chopsticks and uses them to snag a piece of food off of Harry's plate. "Now you try to do what I'm doing."

Harry picks them up and looks at them then tries repeatedly to get them to work, only once getting a noodle to stick to them long enough to make it to his mouth. After a number of minutes working up a great appetite, he scowls at his dinner plate; it explodes sending shrapnel and food all over the room.

"Well that's quite the temper you have there." Genkai said while pulling a shrimp from her forehead and a noodle off her nose.

"Sorry." Harry blushed, but ate the food that had attached itself to his hands and face because he was starving still.

Kurama still startled began to pluck the noodles from his hair. He has never before seen such a show of untamed power. '_Who would have thought that such a small boy would have that type of an explosive nature when frustrated over not getting food?' _

Yukina had managed to duck at the first sign of the power building and avoided soiling her precious clothing.

"**Yukina go get a spoon and another plate of food for him, because he must still be hungry." **Genkai said.

When Yukina returned with more food Genkai told him, "After you are done eating I need you test you and your abilities it won't hurt and I will learn a lot about why that just happened."

"That was just accidental magic it happens to me now and then. It has all my life." Harry shrugged casually.

"It shouldn't still be happening. That is what happens to someone whose magic is largely untrained and by now you should have learned enough control that would not still be happening if there wasn't something wrong." Genkai told him.

"Oh?" Harry said intrigued. For once someone was giving him answers, truthful ones.

"That is why I am going to be scanning your spirit energy to find the cause and what can be done to help you work things out."

Harry is only able to finish about half the food that was set in front of him. When anticipation got the better of him and he had to stop. He asked, "Master Genkai what exactly are you going to do to me?"

Kurama chokes on his tea and coughs because he nearly laughed while drinking; his mind was in the gutter over what Harry had unknowingly said.

"Are you okay?" Questioned Harry, he starts over towards him, but is quickly waved off.

"I'm fine pay attention to Master Genkai."

"The technique I am going to use is called spirit wave. It has many uses it can be a strong attack or it can heal nearly any injury. Along with being a healing technique I will be able diagnose what is wrong within your body that would cause you to be underdeveloped.

Also it will tell me what is making your magic go haywire even though you have had a considerable amount of training."

"Do I need to do anything to make it work?" he asked.

"Just sit still and be quiet." Genkai ordered.

She raised her hands towards Harry and Rippling waves of yellow energy spread out over his body as Genkai began her scan.

Harry felt a kind of pressure and tingling sensation as soon as she began. It didn't hurt at all although it was kind of annoying and made him want to shift in hopes of relieving the feeling, but he withstood it without moving as she ordered. After a few minutes it stopped and she moved away.

"You can move now, I'm done." Genkai said, "Aside from my student Yusuke who has died twice and been in hundreds of major fights you have the most injuries and abnormalities I have ever seen in one person. Most recently you have had 6 fractured and 3 broken ribs along with a partially crushed collar bone and fractured cheek bone. At the time of these injuries you received a concussion, split lips, black eyes and internal bleeding. All of these were taken care of during your healing coma and with the potions you took just before showing up here. Over your life time you have broken more than 50% of the bones in your body and many have been broken more than once. You were malnourished and emaciated for most of your life which has been a major factor in your petite size. Other things of interest you have had your entire left arm bone re-grown."

Kurama's eyes go very large at this and he interrupts her exclaiming, "What…? How?"

"Magic of course, now let me finish. A long knife wound on your arm and a large pierce wound on the other. Burns from dragon fire and acidic potions have covered your body over the last few years. You have basilisk venom and phoenix tears running through your veins as well as vampire blood."

Harry's eyes dilate this time as he asks, "Vampire's blood I don't know any vampire…s." He trailed off for a second and then as if struck by lightning, the idea occurred to him. "Snape, we always called him the dungeon bat but we never thought he might actually be a vampire."

"Now can I finish?" Genkai pauses for a second and then continues, "Your body is covered in an assortment of smaller scars, from regular whippings and from fights, from some sort of writing cut in to the skin of your hand to the claw marks of an owl. The oldest scar you have is the one in the middle of your forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt which you received while you were still a baby. Now you knew of most if not all of those things what you may not know is that there have been binding spells and magic blocks placed upon you keeping your magic from progressing stronger as it should. With preventing your magic it has also affected your hormones keeping you from truly going through puberty. If left in place past your 17th birthday you may never be able to gain any more magical strength than what you are working with right now, preventing you also from ever developing as a man."

The windows nearest them shattered with the coming of this information. Harry has a strained look on his face causing everyone to know he was the source of the broken glass.

"Sorry."

"Replacing the windows will be your one of your chores now as well." Genkai said as she looked at Harry.

"As the blocks are removed your appearance will likely change dramatically, because your own blood is not entirely human. So, with the blocks there were a number of very strong charms making your hair and features look exactly as they do now and to remain unchanging for many years to come."

"I'm not entirely human? What am I mixed with?"

'_I had always wondered why my hair would grow back exactly the same in record time whenever it was cut.'_ Harry thought.

"I don't know what you are exactly just that you were born with mixed blood, mostly human but of something completely different as well. If I'm not mistaken one of the lesser bindings has been loosened by something and you might have a change in your appearance as well as your magic soon. As to what caused it to loosen you're guess is as good as mine perhaps the vampire blood Snape's potions had something to do with it." Genkai looked around for a second and told Harry. "It's getting late you should rest you had a long day and I need you up early tomorrow to start on your chores and we can work on training you a little on what spirit energy work is like. Strictly theory of course, we can't train you with spirit energy until all the blocks are off."

Now having a lot to think about decides she is probably right. He goes over to Kurama and asks him, "How do you say good night in Japanese?"

"**Oyasuminasai.**" Kurama said.

Harry tried to say it to everyone, "Oh-yah-soo-mee-na-saw-ee."

Yukina smiled and said, "**Oyasuminasai.**"

Harry headed to bed though he didn't know how quickly he would actually be able to fall asleep because he had so many things to think about.

"**Will you keep an eye on the boy for me? He has so much to learn before I will feel safe leaving him alone for more than a few minutes at a time now that I know just how frail he really is. Not only are his bones weak from malnutrition, but his mental health as well from years of childhood abuse." **Genkai asks Kurama.

"**I will, at least until one of the others comes along that he'll feel a stronger connection to." **Kurama says.

"**Good. If he ever does bond to anyone without fear of being abused it would be a miracle. That is all I ask and try to keep him from breaking more windows." **Genkai sighs as she walks off to her room.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note

I'm trying to get these out to you faster than once a month honest. I put a poll up in my profile inquiring what people think of my writing and if there is noticeable improvement. This chapter is again unbeta-read so if someone wants to beta for me they can send me notes and changes on chapter 4 and 5. If there is something that is confusing please message me so I can get it fixed. All suggestions will be considered I love to hear from you guys please keep reviewing.

Chapter 5

Dawn of a new life

-Meanwhile back in the wizarding world.-

Remus reacts instinctively when he learns of Harry Potter's disappearance "Where did Harry go? He is not anywhere in London or with his aunt and uncle." He asks everyone in The Order, "Has anyone found out where he has gone to? It is only a few weeks before the new school year and no one has heard anything from him since before his birthday."

"It is strange that he ran away without telling anyone isn't it." Dumbledore stated plainly.

"Who said anything about him running away? It is more likely that he was kidnapped all of his things were still at the muggle's house."

At that moment Tonks runs in out of breath and states raggedly, "Hedwig… Harry's owl… was found dead in the river. She has been dead about a week."

"Who pronounced it to be Potter's bird?" Professor Snape sneered.

"I don't know who said it first, but it is becoming widely known as fact not merely hearsay and I'll be damned if the Daily Prophet hasn't got a story in the works as we speak."

"What have we gotten from the muggles and did Mrs. Figgs hear anything on or around Harry's birthday?" Dumbledore asked showing no emotions.

"We weren't able to enter the house while the muggles were awake to ask them any questions yet but that is the next step in the investigation. As to Mrs. Figg she heard some indistinct yelling and a large bang during the late morning of Mr. Potter's birthday." Moody said.

"How are we going to make people believe that things are a-okay and that we haven't lost Harry Potter? Too many wizards in an active search for him and people will really start to talk and worry as the school year nears and he hasn't been seen in Diagon Alley all summer to collect any of the necessary things for the next school year." Arthur

"You are right people will start to panic if their wonder boy doesn't make an appearance they will believe that he must be dead. The rumor mill is already grinding, we don't have much time to change the populace's mind. Do you think we will we be able to convince people that he is just getting private tutoring and preparing himself for the next time he faces The Dark Bastard?" Moody grumbled.

Snape thinks to himself and had to resist smirking, _'Damn that is near exactly what he is doing. Hell I could withstand Veritaserum if someone asked me if he was really preparing himself and gaining new skills.' _

Remus looks at Snape seeing a brief twitch in the corner of his mouth as though he was trying not to smile. '_My bat, what are you up to now?'_ Wondering what he could find amusing about this whole situation.

Upon noticing Moony's attention Snape sent him a look that clearly said 'NOT NOW!' Which just made him even more curious as to what his companion knew about Harry that he wasn't willing to share?

"Does anyone have any more information about the whereabouts of Harry James Potter?" Dumbledore asked the members of the order. No one spoke up with anything. "Ok so, where are we going from here? His Uncle and Aunt both need to be questioned as do his neighbors. Moody you get to question the muggles. Snape, Remus as much as you tried to keep your distance from the boy I know that you really cared a lot about him I want you both out searching for him over the next few days. We aren't telling anyone outside The Order that Harry is missing no matter what so come up with a convincing cover for what you are doing instead of preparing for the new school year. The rest of you can listen around for rumors and gossip and try to lock them down before anyone can panic. Also find out what happened to Harry's owl if the one that was found was really his. Dismissed!"

"Ok spill." Remus demands of Snape once they are in private.

Snape says, "Later I'm not ready yet, I need to figure out the plan still on how we are going to look for him…"

Remus cuts Severus off sharply "Oh no. You know what happened to our wily coyote pup so don't give me none of this I don't know how we are going find him bull."

"Not yet I won't say anything, but I promise you will be the first to see him again. It will be soon but he needs more time to himself."

Remus moves in close and lightly runs his fingernail along the line of Snape's chin only to have to snag it away as Snape tries to bite it.

"You can't seduce me into telling you anything before I'm ready to."

"That sounds like a challenge I think I'll try anyway."

Morning came and Harry was awakened by a strange bird like creature climbing on to him and trying to sit on top of his head. "PUU" it said looking down at him. Once he had moved it off from his head he was able to see that it was shaped kind of like a short penguin which was blue, had what looked like long ears and a black tuft of hair on the top of its head. Harry looked out his window as the creature flew out it using his ears and saw that the sky was just starting to grow lighter so he knew was due to get up about now anyway.

Still not quite sure what type of animal it was that had awaken him he got up to get dressed looked around his room and found a pair of pants that seemed long enough for Hegrid to have worn them though they were close in waist size to his own. He sent out a silent thank you to the gods above that he had some trousers to wear today. He put them on and rolled them up about a dozen times then found a shirt that was in mild disrepair having a few small strings hanging loose but it didn't bother him one bit as it fit him far better than most of his old wardrobe had.

He ran his fingers through his hair as was part of his morning routine and his hand froze in place. He sat down on the corner of his bedroll running his fingers through his normally unruly hair again to be sure, because somehow after 14 years of having hair that had remained the same length no matter what was done to it his hair had actually grown about four centimeters in one night. He ran to Yukina's room to find a mirror willing to brave the girl's presence to find out what his hair looked like now. He was in luck and Yukina was already away from her room, not only had his hair grown but it had shifted color and his black hair now had a red sheen to it in the morning light.

Genkai was looking for him and when she spotted him in a set of Kuwabara's castoffs staring at himself in the mirror she snapped, "Are you reminding yourself what you look like in men's clothing?"

"No, my hair has changed." He replied still in a state of shock.

She walked in to the room and took a closer look at his hair and sure enough his hair was significantly longer and kind of had a red glow in the early light of the morning. "Hmm… I had wondered what was going to come first from having your binds start to loosen; now we know." Genkai stopped lost in thought for a moment, still looking at the changes in the boy. "Well enough gawking it's time for breakfast." Genkai left Harry sitting there knowing that he would be along soon to have some food. _'I've got to talk to Yukina about that kimono habit of hers.' _Genkai thought as she walked away in search of Yukina.

Harry turned away from the mirror after a few more minutes trying to figure out what to do with his hair now that I was longer. Harry was unusually hungry when he left Yukina's room to go to the dining room. When he got there a wave of strong smells from the food made his stomach growl. Harry blushed slightly at the sight of Yukina and Kurama smiling in his direction.

Harry looked and in the place at the table where he had sat the night before there was a set of spoon and fork like one he had used before to eat crab meat with in addition to the chopsticks. _'I guess they really don't want anything to happen like last night.' _

Kurama walked over to Harry "Your hair changed, how did that happen?"

"Master Genkai said it had something to do with one of the blocks coming loose on my magic."

When they got to Harry's spot Kurama started to name off the different foods that were laid out on the table in many small bowls and plates he pointed at each as he named them off. "Breakfast today is steamed rice, miso soup, Broiled fish, tamagoyaki, onsen tamago, tsukemono pickles, seasoned nori, and lastly natto."

Harry looked at the spread and the only thing he really recognized was the rice and fish and he had never had them before for breakfast. "So how are these supposed to be eaten?"

"The soup you can eat as is or add some soy sauce to, everything else I would add some soy sauce and eat with rice, nori you dunk in soy and wrap around a chunk of rice. Watch how I eat mine and try to copy me. Do you like spicy foods?"

"No." Harry said succinctly shaking his head.

"Ok, then don't use the wasabi, I use it a lot." Kurama said as he pointed to the thick yellow green condiment in the small dish of the left next to the soy sauce.

Harry was still in shock about his hair, so he was just going through the motions of eating. He wasn't really paying attention to the way everything was different, nor the fact that he would never before have thought of any of these types of food as breakfast foods. Harry ate a little bit of everything in front of him and then just finished the things he actually decided he liked. The soup and the broiled salmon were pretty good and he ate a good portion of his rice with soy sauce. He couldn't help, but wish he had something sweet even if it was just oatmeal and brown sugar he would have eaten quite a bit more.

Genkai, who had remained silent during the majority of breakfast decided it was time to tell Harry what was in store for him "You had a hand in what you would be doing today whether you meant to break the windows or not it is your duty to pick up the glass and then with Kurama's help you will install new windows. After that you sweep the paths around the estate and finish at the stairs."

Cleaning up the glass was not easy because the plants right outside the window all had thorns, Roses and Raspberries were the bushes closest to the dining room windows. Kurama pitched in and helped Harry, because he didn't have anything else better to be doing and he was waiting on Harry to put in the new windows. He really missed his wand, one quick repair spell and all the glass would have been cleaned up and he wouldn't have to be replacing the windows either.

Kurama found the tools and they pulled off the frames surrounding the last of the broken windows. Genkai had a large stack of window panes and Kurama knew exactly what to do to change the things out, so Harry began to wonder if broken windows were a common occurrence around here. In no time they had the glass installed in all the frames and it was time for Harry to start on his last chore for the day.

Before Harry made an appearance at breakfast that morning Genkai had told Yukina to let him wear the pants and shirt, because he was going to be doing a lot of chores today and she didn't think Yukina would want the kimono to be ruined by dirt and grime. So Yukina let Harry be while he was performing the list of chores he had been assigned to do. When she saw that he was sweeping his way to the steps and soon to be finished, Yukina knew the time had come for her to get him changed into the kimono he was going to wear for the rest of the evening.

His last chore was not hard, but it was time consuming as he had to sweep clean the entire path from the door to the stairs that led down to the road. He sweeping along and when he was nearly done and could see down the stairs, Harry saw someone coming up that he hadn't ever seen before The strange man was obviously quite tall and had a full head of bright orange red hair, kind of like the Weasleys' but none of the males had a hair style like this guy's.

Harry turned to go back to the house and was going to let Master Genkai or Kurama know that someone was coming up the stairs when suddenly he was pounced upon by Yukina. Before his broom had hit the ground Harry was being pulled off the path was starting to lose his clothes. '_Does she have a magic talisman that lets her change clothing on others incredibly fast?' _Harry thought, irritated that this was happening to him again, as she was starting to wrap him in the kimono.

Yukina let go of the clothing, and stepped back to admire her work. Harry now free of her grasp and unwanted attention steps away from her to run away from her only to stumble backwards over the broom and began his potentially long decent down the stairs. As he falls over he tries to save himself from hitting his head on the hard stone steps he closes his eyes to the impending pain knowing there was nothing he could do in mid fall. The pain never came! He was suddenly scooped up into a strong pair of arms. Hyperventilating from the adrenalin rush and his hair a mess, he looks up into the face of the person who caught him only to find the expression of adoration. '_Not what I was expecting and I don't care whether it is because he thinks I'm a girl or because he finds men in women's clothing attractive, I just want him to let me go!'_ Harry thought as he was being carried back up the stairs as though he was a bride being carried across the threshold.

Kurama who had was sitting in a tree some distance off, had to catch himself as he nearly fell because of how hard he was silently laughing. He had seen the whole thing and couldn't help, but wonder how much pain Kuwabara was going to be in once Harry got back on his own feet. He knew there would be hell to pay if that had happened to him Kuwabara would never know what hit him, and for some reason, he felt it would be the same this time with Harry.

Yukina saw Kuwabara carrying Harry up the stairs and sighed in relief and then she saw Kuwabara's face. It looked almost as though he was in love and had just saved the most beautiful damsel ever. The way his hair had grown overnight and throughout the day that she would never think it was a boy in that kimono if she didn't already know. '_Poor Kuwabara he is going to be hurting for this later.'_

Harry started struggling "Let me go, you big oaf! I'm not your princess to be swept off my feet and carried away!"

Calmly looking down at the lovely person he was carrying, Kuwabara said, "**It's ok dear one you're safe now. My name is Kazuma, Kuwabara. What's your name?"**

"**That is Poteru, Hari, unfortunately Hari doesn't speak Japanese." **Yukina stated, mangling the name because she hasn't used it much.

"**Hari, that's a gorgeous name." **_'Kazuma, Hari that has a nice ring to it.'_

"**You might want to set Hari down, I don't know what will happen if my green eyed friend there isn't set down soon, but it probably won't be pretty. We just spent a good portion of the day replacing windows from an uncontrolled outburst of power that happened last night after dinner." **Kurama said as he got down from the tree with a huge smile on his face.

"Kurama get this imbecile to let me down! Now!" Harry demanded.

"I just told him to let you down and that if he didn't soon I didn't know what you would do but it wouldn't be pretty." Kurama stated slyly. "By the way, Hari if I didn't already know you I might think you were a girl seeing you like this for the first time, in that kimono, your petite frame, long hair and youthful voice."

Harry gives Kurama an evil look, which is cut short by Kuwabara finally letting Harry down. After Harry's feet were on the ground the first thing he does is slap Kuwabara across the face, in hopes that he would get the point that his affection was misplaced in Harry. Then the next thing anyone saw was a dust cloud where Harry had been and they spotted him about twenty meters away two seconds later heading back to the house.

"**WOW that is really fast for someone who hasn't trained their spirit energy." **Kurama said.

"**Do you think Hari likes me?" **Kuwabara asked hopefully?

"**I think it's too soon to tell." **Kurama answered enigmatically.

Harry ran back to the house just to get a breather then he started to think about what he could do to get back at Kuwabara for the treatment he had received earlier. He thought about the Weasley twins and what types of pranks they would pull off and the first that came to mind was laxatives in his food. Japanese Knotweed was a good source for a laxative, it grew everywhere and he had seen some at the edge of the woods the last time he was out there.

Kuwabara goes into the house and heads back to the room he always used while at Master Genkai's estates. After such a long set of stairs and the trip there from town he was ready to just nap, but he knew if he wanted to catch Hari's attention at dinner he needed to freshen up. He pulled some cloths together and hoped into the shower to wash off the grime he had collected on his way up the stairs.

"**Demon foot soup… I can hardly believe that was the reason a human was trapping and killing demons. Not only was she doing it and not caring what type of demon she was catching, but she had a recipe that required 15 sets of feet from demons to complete. Where on Earth did the woman get that recipe and what possessed her to actually try to make it?" **Yusuke asked Botan as they walked in to Koenma's office.

"**Well I don't know, but you did great today, she might have killed 12 demons but you saved at least three more from meeting the same fate. You also saved her from coming across a demon that was too powerful for her to handle" **Botan said positively.

Koenma told Yusuke **"Good job out there, take a bit of a break we'll get a hold of you if something comes up. Go home, go train, do something just get out of here for a while. We'll find you when we need you next. Botan go take him where ever he wants to go and then come back you still have work to do." **

Botan turns to Yusuke and asks, **"Where do you want to go first?"**

"**Let's go check in with Master Genkai it's been a little while since I've been out there." **

"**OK, Here we go… … … Um… Well that's new."**

"**What's wrong?"**

"**Well it seems Genkai has upgraded her wards since the last time I was there because right now I can't drop us off anywhere closer to the house than the bottom of the stairs or out about a mile into the woods. Your choice?"**

"**Nothing will bother us on our way in from the woods and I really don't feel like climbing stairs." **Yusuke said

Botan brought them to the small clearing in the woods. They both could feel the demons in the shadows they got closer for a sec and then suddenly they were all running away fearing their lives were in danger. As they were walking out of the forest and back toward the house they spotted someone collecting digging in the dirt at the base of some weedy looking plants.

'_That looks like Yukina with black hair and a new hair cut. Have I been away that long that she would change her hair so dramatically?'_ Yusuke thinks to himself then calls out to her,

"**Hi Yukina! When did you change your hair, you look a lot more like…" **at that moment Harry turned around and Yusuke saw that it wasn't Yukina at all, she was still rather attractive.

"**My name is Urameshi, Yusuke. You can call me Yusuke I'm sorry for thinking you were someone else." **The girl in front of him didn't seem to react kindly to his introduction.

"I'm a boy. I don't speak Japanese, and unless one of you speaks English this conversation isn't going to go too far." Harry stated monotonously.

Botan replies in English "My name is Botan and he is Yusuke and unfortunately he doesn't understand much English as far as I know because well he skipped a lot of school. From behind, you looked a lot like Yukina a friend of ours. Why are you out here and why are you dressed in that kimono? Not that you don't look great in it of course." A sweat drop forms on the side of Botan's head as she realizes saying anything else on that topic wasn't going to do her any good. Botan translates what Harry is saying for Yusuke.

Harry hangs his head and thinks '_I need to get back at her for putting me in these things all the time, but when I plan on doing something I chicken out because she is just too sweet and nice otherwise.' _Harry looks back up and puts on a smile, "It is a pleasure to meet you Botan. My name is Harry Potter. Yukina is the reason I have to wear kimonos nuff said. As to why I am out here, I'm gathering some Knotweed roots to get back at Kuwabara for how he treated me earlier."

"**What is he doing here on Genkai's property and what did Kuwabara do to deserve having the shits for?" **Yusuke asks Botan after she told him what Harry had said.

"Why are you here with Genkai?" Botan asked simply.

"I was dropped here by one of my previous teachers who knew Genkai. My situation where I came from is complicated, but I am here for sanctuary, training and a seemingly unending list of chores."Harry replyed.

She smirked "If you are here for more than a day or two you end up given chores. You mentioned that Kuwabara was here, what did he do to you earlier?"

"Does Kuwabara like boys or men dressed in woman's clothing?" Harry asked seriously

"**NO!" **He said after hearing Botan's translation.Now he really wanted to know because that is not something that he would ever expect to hear asked about his friend and rival.

"No, he doesn't so far as we know." Botan said with a bit of a smirk.

"Well then he thought that I was a girl because the first time he set eyes on me he looked like he had been struck by cupid's arrow. Unless someone has told him I'm not a girl by now, he still thinks I am and is smitten with me." Still pissed that the way he looked now was so androgynous that he was being mistaken for a female first until informed otherwise.

Botan starts laughing uncontrollably.

Yusuke starts yelling to be heard over her laughter, **"What's so funny?" **

Botan has trouble getting the words out between laughing **"Kuwabara fell… in love with Harry… because he thinks Harry… is a Girl." **Botan starts laughing even harder as Yusuke joins her.

Harry is giving both of them the evil eye, but they don't notice for quite awhile because their eyes are watering from too much laughter.

**"Oh, I'm never going to let him live this one down, though you would be a beautiful girl Harry I can understand his mistake." **Yusuke states smiling broadly.

Botan translates what Yusuke said for Harry.

"You better watch out I might have to slip some of this in to your food too." Harry says in an angry joking tone of voice.

"**I'll be good I won't let it slip that you are doing this either. I might one up it and make him spar with me after dinner just to add to the discomfort and embarrassment." **Yusuke had always wanted a chance to torment and trick Kuwabara since he always laughed at Yusuke's luck in surviving for as long as he has.

Harry heard this and smirked "Thanks." He puts the small roots into a napkin wraps it tightly and sticks it into the waist of his kimono and starts walking back with Botan and Yusuke.

Yusuke turns to Botan after the plan for how Harry would secretly get the root into the food Kuwabara was eating was worked out. **"Weren't you supposed to go back to spirit world because you have more work to do there?"**

"**Oh yeah I forgot Koenma asked me to be right back didn't he. Oops." **Botan said,then to Harry. "Well it was nice meeting you Harry I'll see you around, I have to get back to work."

"See you later." Harry said.

At dinner Yusuke sits in between Kuwabara and Harry. When the soup at the beginning of the meal is dished up Yusuke immediately steals Kuwabara's bowl and drinks it down while fighting with Kuwabara. In the confusion while everyone else is focused on the fighting duo Harry quickly stirs the finely cut roots into Yusuke's bowl knowing that in a moment Kuwabara was going to steal it away from where it is to get back at Yusuke. According to plan Yusuke's bowl was stolen and eaten in a flash by Kuwabara.

**"After dinner we are going to finish this, I want to spar with you. No spirit gun and or sword." **Yusuke told Kuwabara.

"**You're on," **Kuwabara shot back.

Genkai told Harry, "You need to watch the fight after dinner to see what spirit energy can do when used combatively. Tomorrow I will be working with you to see what can be done about those blocks that are holding you back."

After the last bites of dinner were put away everyone went out to the yard.

"Can you see auras without your wand?"

Harry just nods.

"Make sure to pay attention to their auras as they fight and see how they move their energy around with their attacks."

"OK"

Yusuke and Kuwabara size each other up for a moment. "**I'm going to beat you this time Urameshi" **then Kuwabara rushes into make the first strike, an uppercut that might have sent Yusuke flying, but he nimbly dodged away by leaping straight up. When he came down he landed a glancing kick to Kuwabara's side. "**Damn you Urameshi you gave me a rug burn with my shirt."**

As Harry watches he sees the glow of their auras intensifying and flashing brightly when a punch or a kick landed on the other combatant. _'This must be what Master Genkai was wanting me to see. I can understand what they are doing but I still have no Idea how they are controlling this type of energy.'_ Harry ponders on this for a while.

A few minutes into the match Kuwabara's aura starts to flicker and weaken in a strange way and Yusuke takes that as his cue to strike. From about ten meters away Harry is able to hear a loud gurgling sound coming from Kuwabara, and just after that he is punched hard in the stomach making him fold over in pain. He looked as though he was going to be sick, but instead of covering his mouth he covered his ass and his face turned red in embarrassment as he waddled to the nearest bathroom a dark blotch starting to appear under his fingers.

Yusuke calls out to him with a big smile on his face, "**You're never going to beat me if you can't take a punch to the gut."**

Kurama busts up laughing hardly believing what he saw.

Harry and Yusuke high five after Kuwabara is out of sight.

Kurama asks Harry, "What did you do? You guys had this all planned didn't you?"

"Had what all planned?" Harry asked innocently. "How could I have planned this all out with Yusuke when he doesn't speak any English?"

"**Yusuke what did Harry do?" **Kurama questioned.

"**Not telling." **Yusuke just smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors notes:** Sorry about the long wait for this chapter a year and a month Is far too long to make you wait but real life got in the way at every turn. First I started a new full time job and then I started culinary school on top of work. Then I lost that job and was looking for work and writing this chapter and the next one but was unable to fine tune it before starting my next job. I also had medical issues that started really bothering me starting back in June. I figured out that I have Gluten Intolerance and potentially Celiac disease which was leaving me running to and from the bathroom and making my mind very foggy every time I had anything with wheat, barley or rye. I have been off gluten for a while now and have gotten settled in to my busy schedule so I have found time to work on this story.

This chapter is a filler as the next one originally was going to be joined with this one but it was taking so long to get it all done I wanted to get something out to you all. I have the next chapter about 90% done so it shouldn't be too long before it is out.

As always I love reviews and comments, as well as questions and concerns.

As of right now this chapter is not beta read, if and when I get a new beta I will replace this with an updated one.

**Warning**: Later chapters are likely to be full of Slash and het smut so the fic is rated M

**Disclaimer:** The plot belongs to me, but nothing else.

**Chapter 6**

WTF

Kazuma Kuwabara didn't have a clue what was going on, nobody else seemed to get sick from dinner last night. He was afflicted with not only an upset stomach, but diarrhea that refused to let him be off the toilet more than an hour at a time. He went to the dining room to have his breakfast hoping that he would feel better soon.

"**You're not looking so hot today,"** Yusuke says when Kuwabara entered the dining room.

"**I feel like crap, but once I'm better I want a rematch Urameshi, because I was about to pound your ass in the ground this time,"** Kuwabara said before plopping down at the table and taking a quick look at the food spread out in front of him.

"**Sure, sure, you know I could have finished that fight anytime I wanted to, but I figured you needed to get a good work out," **Yusuke shot back at him before returning to his own meal.

Kuwabara decides what he wants to eat, moves a big bowl of rice closer to himself and puts some vegetables on it hoping a bland breakfast would help settle things down. Before he could start eating, his stomach made an ominous gurgle and he was off in a flash for the toilet again. He barely made it in time, this time.

Upon returning to the table he was starving and dug in to his food without a second glance. When he bit down on his first mouthful he was rewarded with the sensation of bursting pustules of ooze that coated and numbed the inside of his mouth. His nauseous, already unsettled gut couldn't take that disgusting and unexpected sensation, so he lost the last of its contents on the floor in seconds.

Kurama enters the dining room just in time to see Kuwabara turn away from the table and vomit on the floor. A blur of black fir and wings about the size of a house cat zipped out from behind Kuwabara coming straight at Kurama. He reached in to his flowing red hair and grew a thorn-less rose whip, then with a swish and a flick the whip shot across the distance closing on the spot where the creature should have been, but it managed to evade the vine and immediately darted out of the room. Kurama sprinted after it, only to run headlong into Harry as he was coming in for breakfast. They tumbled to the floor in a heap of tangled arms and legs. Kurama got back to his feet quickly and helped Harry up making sure he wasn't badly hurt.

"Are you alright Harry?" Kurama asked and Harry nodded while stretching and wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Yes I'm fine. I might have a few new bruises, but it is nothing I'm not used to getting on a regular basis and a whole lot less than any thing I ever received from Uncle Vernon."

Kurama not forgetting why he ran into Harry in the first placed asked, "Harry did you see a small winged creature this morning, leaving this room just a moment ago?"

"Puu? No I haven't seen him this morning."

"No not Puu. This thing was black, longer and sleeker maybe fifty centimeters in length."

"No I haven't seen anything like that today. Why do you ask?"

"One just darted out of the room a second ago."

"Oh. I just woke up and didn't notice anything like that."

"**Yusuke did you just see that black winged creature leave the room a second ago?"**

"**There was a winged creature in here? I didn't see or feel anything. You must be hallucinating."**

"**I did feel something, but only because it came very close to me as it left the room otherwise I might not have even noticed it at all."**

Harry looks at the food set out on the table and sighs _'Still nothing sweet or normal for breakfast.'_ After eating a little of everything again he decided to take matters in to his own hands and left to investigate the kitchen for something that he really liked. When he gets to the kitchen he searches high and low for anything recognizable as English breakfast foods and while the cupboards were far from bare there was nothing to be found. He couldn't read the packaging on bags and boxes, but of the things that he could see nothing sounded good for breakfast. Having the distinct feeling of eyes on the back of his neck Harry wasn't entirely surprised when Yukina pounced and promptly retied the kimono he had hastily put on earlier before breakfast.

He went back to the table cheeks burning and sat down in his spot ate some more of his rice and some more fish and veggies. When the meal was finished and they started cleaning up he asked Kurama, "Can I have some paper and a pen, I want to write a shopping list of foods I really miss and breakfast foods I'm used to eating.

Kurama strode off to his room and grabbed the requested supplies and returned to Harry handing them over. "What types of foods are you missing most?"

"I miss having sweets most; candies, cakes, and pies, though I miss eggs, potatoes, bacon, toast with jam and oatmeal quite a bit already as well." Harry got to work writing out a list of his favorite foods and what he would need to make things he loved to eat that couldn't be found premade.

"I know Yukina usually does the shopping, but could you pick some of this stuff up for me today since she doesn't read or understand English?"

"Of course I can. Good luck with Master Genkai today." Kurama responds, then thinks, _'you're going to need it'_

Master Genkai felt that time was of the essence, _'it will be harder on Harry to wait any longer before breaking him free of the blocks on his spirit energy. I just hope he isn't stubborn about it.' _

"Harry if you are done eating, you will follow me to the training room," Genkai demanded.

Genkai walked off to the training room and Harry followed her. "Should I change into something I can move around in easier Master Genkai?" Harry asked when he saw her doing some stretches.

"No, that will not be necessary. Today you are going to be watching me for the most part when I want you to do something I will tell you what to do then." Genkai said in a very authoritative way.

The first half of the day went by excruciatingly slowly and very little seemed to be happening. Harry was sitting in the middle of the training room watching Master Genkai move her energy around trying to feel his own and mimic her if possible; so far it was not possible for him.

Next she decided it would be a great idea to start attacking him.

"Defend your-self against my attacks," Master Genkai said. "I am going to start attacking you with waves of spirit energy, they are going to get increasingly intense and you will have to prevent them from hitting you or by the end of this lesson you will be knocked out"

They started out mild as a push a shove but after a few failed attempts at making his aura firm up as she had described it he was feeling abused and starting to get sore both mentally and physically one wave gave him a bloody nose and by this point Harry is getting mad and tired of the attacks when he was hit with another wave it left him dazed for a second but he had had enough he hated felling helpless but suddenly before she could send another wave his magic whipped out uncontrollably and sent Genkai flying in the far wall of the dojo.

Harry was no longer angry, but afraid that he had hurt the frail looking old woman, so he ran over to help her, but he was stopped in his tracks by the strongest wave yet and fell backwards losing consciousness.

Genkai stands up, straightened her back and looks down on Harry's prone form. "You are something else, and as for that block on your spirit energy, it is amazingly stubborn."

While he was out cold she went and grabbed some food and water for him as well as a towel to clean his face up with.

He wakes up to food and water and Genkai saying eat up I'll be back for you in a few minutes. He eats and wonders what could possibly be next.

"Well Runt," She says as she re enters. "Since nothing else has worked to release you of those bindings perhaps, a different kind of need will. I'm going to knock you out again, drop you off in the middle of the forest and you will find your way back here. This house has the highest level of spirit energy in area so you should have no problem finding your way back here."

Harry was about to open his mouth to protest when suddenly Genkai's energy flared and Harry's world goes dark.

Genkai thinks, _well I wish I didn't have to go this route, but it should make him use more of his power to find his way back_.

Harry wakes up a short time later in the middle of the forest in a darker section than anywhere he had been before. He stands up only to be knocked down and unconscious again, this time by an unseen assailant.

Yukina and Kurama get back on the train leaving Mushiyori City station. After they are done in town shopping, loaded with bags of food they need for the week ahead and Kurama picked out many of the foods on Harry's list along with several items he thinks Harry will enjoy including Pocky, Happy Panda, Mochi, and Yakult1.

Kurama thinks back on what happened in the marketplace and asks Yukina, **"Do you always have trouble with people trying to grab at you when you go to town to shop?"**

"**No, and personally I think they just wanted to get me away from you with your gorgeous red hair and the way you hold yourself, you must have been irresistible to them."**

"**I don't know, the one that was holding you was paying a lot of attention to you trying and to grope your ass when you started to struggle."**

Yukina replied icily, "**Well of course he was paying attention to me I was trying to step on his toes and scratch his eyes out."**

Kurama just laughed and then said, **"The only thing missing was Hiei jumping out of the shadows cutting their heads off and then sternly telling us to stop playing around, then it would have been just like old times."**

"**I miss Hiei."** Yukina said to Kurama "**Has anyone seen him lately?"**

"**I don't think anyone has seen him, but last I heard he was playing guard the border." **Kurama stops for a second and his expression suddenly sifts from contemplative to worried, "**I just got a bad feeling."**

1 **Yakult is a very sweet drink made from fermented milk which is tasty and good for your health. It is sometimes referred to as Liquid Crack, because it is known to give very fast sugar rushes. **


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note

Done with college finally life is still hectic but it's one less thing on my plate keeping me away from my stories. I may have rushed parts of this so please let me know if there are any blaring mistakes, inconsistencies and what not, at some later date I will hopefully get everything in one tense and similar style. As always Hope you enjoy this chapter, please Read and Review.

Chapter 7

**Trouble Magnet **

Perched in a tree looking down on a green skinned ogre demon, Hiei suddenly sneezes, causing the demon below to run knowing that he had been discovered. Hiei silently cursed any who would choose that moment to think fondly of him. Off like a shot he darted without a sound through the canopy easily catching up to the running demon. Hiei dropped out of the trees onto the path in front of the cowardly demon.

'_Damn these demons, if they are going to go around breaking the laws set in place to protect humans, they should at least be strong enough to be a challenge for me to take down,_' Hiei thought after slicing it into many small pieces in a split second.

When he was first assigned to patrol duty he felt it would put some of his strength to use. The last few months had been trying on his nerves and patience as he was always bored nothing has come close to being a challenge for him. Hiei made up his mind to inform Mukuro of his plans to stop patrolling the border and train in human lands for a while.

Hiei made one more circuit of his patrol area and then went back to base.

"**I need to take some time to go train. Work here on the borders is not challenging me enough." **Hiei said as he collapsed into a chair in Mukuro's quarters.

"**I was wondering how much longer you would last out there before you started looking for more trouble. You will be able to leave us soon, but first I need you on the raid team busting a human slave auction here in demon realm." **Mukuro stated without emotion.

Severus felt that Harry should be settled into his new place in the world by now. So having receive word from Genkai that the boy was in desperate need of his clothing particularly underwear after about a week, he couldn't help, but smirk. He went about repacking Harry's trunk with all of his clothing and personal belongings after removing several tracking spells Dumbledore had placed on the trunk. He also left out things which were unnecessary for Harry considering he was not going to Hogwarts as a student ever again. School texts such as Hogwarts: a History, as well as other various dry and inaccurate histories of the wizarding world were amongst them. He had all of Harry's stuff in his home because the other members of the Order expected him to use them to help in the search for Harry. '_Little do they know,'_ was Severus's quiet thought to himself.

Among the various items in Harry's possessions Snape finds a Qibbler magazine with a story about alien abductions in Japan featuring a drawing of a short 3 eyed humanoid with black spiked hair on the front cover and is reminded of something that was said recently. During the previous few days the Order of the Phoenix had turned up so little in regards to Harry's disappearance that Tonks had asked "Anyone else wondered if he had been abducted by aliens or am I the only one?" To which she got un-amused looks from everyone in the room.

"So it looks like we are going to see Harry today?" Came Remus's inquiry as he came into the room.

"Yes," Severus said simply turning around as he shrunk the trunk and stashed it in a pocket, along with Harry's wand.

"When are we going?" Remus asked slightly impatient because he had been left in the dark for so long.

"Well do you want breakfast here or Dinner there with Harry? If we leave now we might still make it on time for dinner." Smirked Severus

"Dinner there with Harry of course, I'm dying to see him again. Where in the world is he anyway?" cheeked Remus.

"I'll tell you where he is when we get there, but I can tell you he is training with a martial arts master and learning to use life force abilities," Severus said flippantly.

"You say he is training with a martial arts expert and learning to use 'Life Force Abilities' as though it would be the most natural place in the world for him to be. I have to ask you though, How did he get wherever he is now, and why can't anyone else find him?" he eyed Severus suspiciously. "It would take a lot of planning and strong spell work to keep everyone else from finding him. How is it that you know where he is?"

"Thank you for the complement about fooling everyone else in the Order, Severus said with a smirk and a nod, "Of course I know where he is, because I sent him there. Once he was there it was easy to prevent everyone from finding him as Master Genkai has ways of keeping people from spying onto her property magically and people can't apparate within a mile of her house, so, on that note we need to go now, because we still have a little walk ahead of us. You ready?"

Remus nods and reaches out to hold hands with Severus and they disapparate.

After making two short stops along the way to throw off anyone who might be trying to track where they are heading, they apparated into a small clearing in a densely forested area.

"Welcome to Japan"

"Japan? Huh…" Remus sniffs the air Harry's been though here recently I can smell him!" Remus said excitedly.

"We aren't far from him now maybe fifteen minutes walk is all." Severus said.

"So how do you know Master Genkai will be good with our cub?" Remus nose scrunched up when he mentioned Master Genkai.

"I have known Master Genkai for a long time. She is one of the few people in the world that I would trust my life and in extension Harry's life with. He needed toughening up and he needed to be away from his uncle. When I went to his house to check on him because he was overdue on checking in, he was in shock. He found out moments before that his owl had been killed by his uncle and was being beaten by said muggle legal guardian."

"Beaten? He never once mentioned it in any of the check up letters he was sending to the Order." Remus's pupils narrowed as they started to practically glow yellow.

Snape slowed down for a second as he checked out the area for its native supernatural inhabitants. _'Good they remember not to mess with me' _Snape thought to himself as the felt the presence of many demonic bats clearing out of their way to the house.

"Yes well perhaps the boy lacked the belief that anything would or could be done to help with his family life. Dumbledore wasn't exactly the most understanding and told him on multiple occasions that no matter what he had to stay with the Dursly's. Dumbledore actually knew about the beatings as did Poppy, but he had made it so that she could only talk to people about Harry's health if they already knew he was mistreated by his family in such an extreme fashion." Severus spat at the word family.

"As if," scoffs Remus "those two whales and the walking stick could be called family. They didn't even act like they were related to him at all."

By now they were exiting the forest and it was just across a field that a large building was coming in to view.

"That my dear Wolf is where Harry is staying."

Harry woke up for a third time that day and it was unquestionably the worst. His head was pounding, and his arms felt like they were going to be pulled out of their sockets. The scents of putrid meat, foul body odor and human excrement wafted to his nose leaving him to wonder, _'what sort of trouble have I gotten myself in to this time.'_

As his consciousness returned and he realized he was hanging limply by his numb wrists which were tied above his head. When he finally opened his eyes it took a moment for his surroundings to come into focus. He was surrounded by what could only be demons milling around as though they were waiting for a show to start. The kimono he was wearing was coming loose as he shifted his legs to support his weight relieving his arms of much of the weight.

Hiei with his team of four other demons arrived at the auction shortly after it was getting underway and saw that the majority of the humans were still caged up although there was one tied to a tree. At the distance of one hundred meters Hiei was able to see there was something very strange about the bound one with the use of his Jagen Eye. The person's energy, while very strong, was tangled and without purpose very different from any other human he had ever seen before.

"**What's the plan? Do we just go down there and kill all the demons in attendance?"**

"**Yes, they are all breaking our new king's law, the punishment for a crime of this magnitude is immediate death," **Hiei gave a bloodthirsty smirk then indifferently states** "then we return the humans to their realm. Do not harm or molest the humans in anyway." **

"**Do you think we're stupid? We know what would happen to us if we wrongfully treat any of them. King Enki and Mukuro would have our heads on a silver platter."**

Hiei thought to himself, _'Yes I really think you are that stupid please prove me wrong.'_

"**You four secure the caged humans and process them much like any other wondering human would be then return them to the human realm. I will deal with the ones around the human bound to the tree before processing him and returning him to his rightful place." **Hiei instructs his team turning his attention back to the auction looking of the right moment to give the signal to move in.

Below them the auctioneer could be heard warming up for the next round of bidding.

"**Ah the child prize awakes. This fine piece of virgin human male flesh shall go to the highest bidder. Before we begin, I know you all would like to get a closer look. You should pay special attention to his eyes I have never in all my days seen a human with more brilliant eyes than this one.****Also take a good whiff of him there is power and a scent of something almost demonic."**

The throng of demons moved in to see what the auctioneer was talking about. The first to reach out to grab Harry's face though quickly learned that the boy was feisty and had a set of teeth. He turned his head around and promptly bit down on the webbing between the demon's thumb and fingers as the demon yanked his hand away Harry spit out the demon's blood in the face of another demon within range. Screams of rage and pain soon filled the air as the demons around Harry tried to move in for a closer look ,but were kicked and bit and spit at whenever they got too close.

Hiei having watched, in amusement, this go on for a few moments decided it was time to move in and dispatch with the demons before any of them tried to do anything besides look and grab. He ran in and was followed by the rest of the team and while a scream of alarm was called out very few of the demons could hear it and of those that did, it didn't save.

Harry felt a brief wind and heard the rustle of fabric as every demon he saw fell silent and the next demon he kicked out at fell to the ground in two bloody pieced and was soon joined by all the other demons near him. He couldn't believe what he saw looking around he finally spotted some fighting going on in the distance near some caged humans he hadn't had the time to notice before.

His attention was soon brought back to himself when someone appeared directly in front of him. Different from the demons who had held him captive this person was barely taller than himself with jet black hair that stood up unnaturally and looked remarkably human were it not for the way his eyes glowed red and a third eye in the middle of his forehead lazily open.

Harry was getting the distinct feeling of being judged about something.

'_Why is he just standing there and staring at me?'_

Looking down at himself he sees the state of his clothing and comes to the conclusion, '_this demon must be contemplating what he wants to do with me first, I surely look like a dirty slutty male concubine.'_

As Hiei slaughtered the demons around the bound boy he had caught the distinct scent of Yukina and underneath that is an extremely alluring scent and now that he had a moment he was able to pinpoint the smells to coming from the boy and his clothing. The kimono that had been tied around him was now only loosely hanging on his lithe frame, dirty and shredded from the demonic mistreatment it had recently received was one of his sister's.

'_I'm going to die.' _Harry thought as he looked at the Red eyed demon staring at him sword still at the ready.

Before he could even react, the demon's sword sailed at him, Harry shut his eyes not knowing what to expect from the demon who had just massacred dozens of other demons in the blink of an eye. When his full weight returned suddenly, no longer tied to the tree, Harry started to fall forward, but was caught and steadied before being let to stand on his own feet.

The fall had caused his kimono to finish coming open and when he tried to fix it with his wrist still bound the demon did something especially unpredictable he grabbed the tie and fixed it, tying it in the back so that it covered as much as possible in its current tattered state. Looking at the person in front of him in shock he tried to convey his gratitude in his face knowing that his words would likely be lost on ears that didn't understand him at all.

'_Why am I treating this human so well? Am I really showing him kindness?' _Thinks Hiei as he snorts out loud. _'He smells good. What is he? He isn't entirely human that's for sure. No human could smell as deliciously.' _ He picks up the boy and unceremoniously drapes him over his shoulder. Hiei is slightly shocked about how light the kid is and kind of pleased to be around somebody smaller than himself who isn't an old wrinkled hag or his sister. '_Being as this was definitely one of Yukina's kimonos the boy is wearing I know exactly where to take him.'_

"Hey what are you doing?" Harry exclaimed as he was lifted up, thrown over the demon's shoulder to be carried around like a sack of potatoes.

Hiei dashes back to inform Mukuro that he was done and now leaving with the human.

After a minute or two Harry got used to it and realized they were traveling a lot faster than he would have been able to on his own two feet. He resigned himself to the fact that no matter what he said or did it wouldn't really change the outcome of the current situation so he settled in to being toted around and began thinking of other things, like how he had gotten into this situation in the first place.

Thinking about what happened earlier left Harry pissed off at Genkai. '_This was all Genkai's fault really. If she would just have let me tell her how much of a bad idea it was for her to just leave me beyond her protective wards and expect that I could find my way back safely without my wand…' _Harry sighs in resignation, _'she must still believe that I'm not that much of a trouble magnet.'_

Harry was sure that if Professor Snape ever found out what happened and why it happened she will be lucky to survive with only a tongue lashing and her skin intact. Harry smiled at, and then shook his head, _'Who would have thought that one day I would actually think of professor Snape and he would cause me to smile? Then again he was the one to save my ass recently.' _

"He's not here. What is the meaning of this?" Severus exclaimed, outraged that this could happen and yet not entirely surprised considering who was missing. "I show up here expecting to see Harry running around in some god awful cloths and have dinner with you lot, but instead you tell me you let the Gryffindor run amok in the forest outside your wards and you haven't seen him in five hours."

"He was fine the last time he went into the forest to gather herbs for me." Genkai said.

"That may be true, but he probably wasn't dropped off unconscious deep in the woods that time either now was he." Remus says worried about his wayward pup.

Kuwabara had been in his room sleeping the day away; as up till now he had been feeling quite sick. Woken up by hunger and by an apparent shouting match happening in another part of the house he got dressed then went to check out what was going on.

Kuwabara entered the dining room where everyone has gathered to find out what the commotion was all about.

"**Who are they?" **Kuwabara asks Yukina, indicating the two strange men in robes.

"**They were Hari's teachers before he came here. They are not happy, because Hari is missing Genkai decided to leave him in the woods for a while so he could find his way back by unlocking his spirit power." **Yukina says then bites her lip because she remembered Kuwabara still thought Harry is a girl.

"**He! What do you mean? **_**His**_** teachers? When was someone going to tell me that the person I was trying to woo was a boy?"**

It was at that moment when Yusuke walks back in and Kuwabara immediately attacks him. **"You've known Hari was a boy the whole time didn't you. Get over here so I can teach you a lesson"**


End file.
